More than ever, tonight's Barcelona-Real Madrid was a shootout between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The two best players in the world left their stamp on a game that was at once an all-out battle between two top sides and a head-to-head showdown. In the end, the spoils were shared both in terms of the overall scoreline (2-2) and the Messi-CR7 bout.
Braces from Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo saw La Liga's 'Clásico' end all square, leaving things as they were in the league table, with Barcelona retaining its eight-point lead over 'Los Blancos'.
Tito Vilanova's makeshift defence struggled in the first half, in which Mourinho's side threatened to deliver a knockout blow when, after setting up Cristiano for the opener, Karim Benzema crashed a drive off the near post. Had the Frenchman found the net, the whole complexion of the game could have been different.
It was not to be and a major slip-up from Pepe gifted Barcelona a lifeline, the Portuguese centre-back mistiming his jump in the box to leave Messi free to level the scores. Barça grew in stature in the second half and moved ahead through a majestic free-kick from the Argentine wizard which Casillas could do nothing about. However, Cristiano would have the last laugh, making the most of a lapse from the home defence to slot home and restore parity.
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